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Jack Thompson Calls The Feds On PA
Gamespot is reporting that Jack has taken his beef to the Feds regarding the dangerous pixelantes over at Penny Arcade. From the article: "In a letter addressed to John McKay, US Attorney for the Western District of Washington, and sent to media outlets, Thompson this morning said the site was using a variety of means 'to encourage and solicit criminal harassment' of him. Thomspon wrote to McKay, 'Please help me if you can,' but did not include specific actions he wished to have taken against the site. McKay's office prosecutes cases investigated by several law enforcement agencies in Western Washington, including the FBI." PvP is also running a parody indicating that Jack has appealed to the Justice League for assistance with Gabe and Tycho.
Seriously, has this guy ever heard of the first amendment? how about New York Times vs Sulivan?. Mr. Thompson is a public figure and therefore a valid target of criticism. Penny arcade has done nothing except to post the messages the Jack has sent. people making death threats could be prosucted. but PA is protected under the law.
sorry 'bout the mess...
He's an attention whore. He's just pissed because Penny Arcade out-whored him on this one. And I doubt that Tycho and Gabe donated the $10,000 thinking they'd make it up in ad revenue. They might, but nearly everyone who follows this scandal already knows about PA. They may gain a few new readers out of it but not many.
At least Andy Kaufman had the sense to promote himself as an actor.
Seriously though, if someone acts like a jerk, they shouldn't be surprised when they receive their comuppance.
I am a science fantasy fan
Desperate actions of a desperate man trying desperately to stay "relevant" and in the public eye. People, it's nothing more than self promotion, and the US Attorney probably gets a shitload of wacky letters like Jacks, and has better things to do than spend much time on them. It's a publicity stunt, folks. Best thing to do? Ignore both it and Jack-O.
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
Penny Arcade is NOT in anyway shape or form harassing him.
It is LEGAL to make donations in another's name. (IE you can make a donation to the NAACP in David Duke's name...)
Is it LEGAL (at least in the USA) to correspond with another and say "ha ha you're a fool"
Is Penny Arcade directing attention to this guy? Yes. And it's LEGAL to do so (in the USA).
They're not threatening him. They're not telling people to threaten him. They are trying to get people's attention on him so that they'll realize that this campaign to sue video game companies is one man's personal vendetta and not necessarily a generalized public response.
He wasn't "hit out of the blue" He's been harassing video game websites for months now and has been publically bashing the entire video game industry. He publically made an offer of donating money to charity if they'd build a game to his specification which he renegged on. He's a public figure, waging a public vendetta.
That's NOT illegal (in the USA). That's called FREE SPEECH.
http://www.law.stetson.edu/excellence/litethics/fl bar.htm
n d%20Inn%20of%20Court%20Creeds.pdf
The Florida Bar
Ideals and Goals of Professionalism
These aspirational guidelines for lawyers were
adopted by the Board of Governors of the Florida Bar on May 16, 1990.
"A lawyer's word should be his or her bond. The lawyer should not knowingly misstate, distort, or improperly exaggerate any fact or opinion and should not improperly permit the lawyer's silence or inaction to mislead anyone."
http://www.jud10.org/WillsonInn/Florida%20Bar%20a
Florida Bar Creed Of Professionalism
"I will not knowingly misstate, distort, or improperly exaggerate any fact or opinion and will not improperly permit my silence or inaction to mislead anyone."
He's not even trying to shove morality down the throats of gamers... He's in it for the money and that's all the morality he needs.
Death threats, you say? Read this: http://gc.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=5883
If Thompson really believes that games create killers (and I want you to think about that), then that game proposal is basically Thompson putting a $10,000 bounty on Paul Eibeler's head (and his family, and Wal-mart cashiers, etc etc).
Because, by his theory, children and teens who play his game are impressionable enough that someone will inevitably go out and re-enact the events he describes. And you can say turnabout is fair play, but if Thompson's campaign is really about protecting minors, then isn't this proposal a step in the wrong direction?
He has - and he used it in response to the inquery from the Florida Bar Association.
But in any case, I took a look at how his reply was written - it contained no soild arguments. While there is circumstancial, indirect, and/or vague claims, they are things that can be countered by a layman.
He also seems to claim that anti-SLAPP lawsuits are unconstitutional from the same letter, but that could be the highly ambigious interpretation speaking. Overall, it's nothing to worry about but something that can't be ignored right now.
Jack is what the Greeks called a sykophant - someone who starts suits for profit - an activity regarded at the time on par with child molestation. I think they had it roughly right.